


Just Tell Me We’ll Be Fine

by redamancyy



Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Dungeons, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, I’m so sorry, Other, Sadness, Sort of an AU, This made me cry as I wrote it, based off of a tumblr post, ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-31 04:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21076967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redamancyy/pseuds/redamancyy
Summary: Trapped in the dungeons with no apparent way out, Ralsei tries to keep up hope—But it’s harder than he thought.——This is kind-of-but-not-really an AU where the people of Card Castle are a little more... vicious than in-game. Made me sad.Warnings:  Mentioned torture (not described actively), mentions of blood/bruises, nothing extreme dw. But sad.





	Just Tell Me We’ll Be Fine

**Author's Note:**

> I’m sorry. Note the warnings— again, nothing extreme, but still. Also, if you are in need of fluff (like me), then this probably won’t help.

Weeks.

Ralsei lost count of how many days had passed since they were thrown in here— this dungeon.

His hands were up in shackles and the ground was damp, chilling him in his bones. The faint light from the bars on the door told him it was morning.

Another morning.

The cell was large, much larger than the one he’d been moved from. It was much darker, too, but across from him, on the other wall, he could barely make out Kris’s form. Also chained to the wall.

They looked to be sleeping. He hoped it would stay that way— they needed it.

A knock came on the wall, loud and sharp. The knocks were rather pointless, Ralsei speculated, as there was no way they could answer the door. Or open it.

The door swung open, and in came a servant. In the dim light, Ralsei couldn’t make out their face, but they were small and non-threatening. They carried a tray that wobbled in their hands, and as they entered the cell, they leaned over to place it on the ground in the center. Where he couldn’t reach.

His stomach growled, and the sound was answered by the door booming shut again.

A noise from the other wall drew his attention. Kris raised their head, first scanning the tray, then looking over at Ralsei in silence. They wiggled their hands, making the chains clink, but other than that they were still.

Ralsei made some attempt at smiling. “Hello,” he croaked. His throat was parched.

Kris made no response, but even in the low light Ralsei could see them smile faintly. The expression dropped just as quickly.

“Another day,” he offered. Kris moved their gaze to the dull ceiling.

“Wonder what they’ll do to me today,” they said after another moment. There was no emotion in their voice, only a vague detachment.

Ralsei swallowed, the motion getting caught in his dry throat. A familiar dread settled in his gut, a feeling not far off in the dungeon. He did wonder. 

“I’m sure it’ll be okay.” He twisted his wrists in the shackles, trying to see Kris’s eyes from behind their hair. They looked paler than usual, their usual blue skin now pallid and slightly glistening. “We’ll find a way out. Susie will come back.”

He already knew it was a lie. If they hadn’t heard a word from Susie in weeks, she wasn’t coming for them. He didn’t even know if she was alive.

They made no response.

After a long while, Ralsei had begun to resign himself to an attempt at sleep when a boom came at the door. Not a knock— a loud crash. Then it opened again.

“Good morning,” a heavily accented voice greeted them, a very audible sneer acting as punctuation. A dark figure appeared in the doorway, just barely illuminated by the hallway.

Kris lifted their head and glared in response.

“Congratulations, worms,” the figure continued, stepping further into the cell, “thou haveth earned the right to freedom.”

With that, the figure snapped, and Ralsei’s wrists came free. He sat dumbfounded, rubbing the bruises from the metal, and saw Kris doing the same.

The figure stayed in the doorway, his pale hair glinting. He didn’t look like the usual lackey to come in and grill Kris— and the others usually ignored Ralsei during the interrogation. He was secretly glad for it, as Kris always looked monumentally tired afterward, but he still hated it.

Hated all of it.

But as expected, the figure began moving towards Kris, who scooted slightly into the corner as he did so. It looked as if the stranger were going to talk to them more, but then he reached down and grabbed their wrist.

“Wait—“ Kris started but was cut off by the stranger yanking them off the ground. They twisted in his grip as he started back towards the doorway.

Ralsei tried to stand, but wobbled on his legs and fell back down. “Stop— Kris,” he rasped. They looked back at him helplessly, still struggling.

“No—“ 

Then the door slammed shut behind the two of them, and Ralsei was alone in the cold, dark cell.

-

An hour passed.

And another.

Or perhaps it didn’t. It got rather hard to tell down here.

Ralsei was curled in the corner, as far as he could get from his shackles as possible. It was even more damp over here, but at least he couldn’t slip and get chained up again. Or something. He just wanted to know where Kris was.

He closed his eyes. The light had disappeared from the bars, leaving the room nearly pitch black again. He looked down at his palms, cold and empty of magic. He doubted he could cast a spell if he tried. Clenching his fists, he shut his eyes again.

A rattling from the hallway caught his ear. It was faint— but the most noise he’d heard in what felt like forever. Straining his ears, he listened for more, but it was silent again. He sighed.

Then someone screamed.

His blood ran cold, and he pressed a hand to his mouth to stifle a cry.

That sounded like Kris.

-

After another long eternity, the door opened and Kris was roughly tossed into the cell with a thud.

“Kris,” Ralsei cried weakly, lurching forward. They pushed themself up as he scrambled over to them, almost crawling. Raising their head to face him, they drew in their knees, holding a side of their face. Their bangs were plastered to their skin, showing eyes half-shut staring at the ground.

“Kris, are you okay?” A scoff from the door as it shut answered him. “Are you hurt?” 

They removed their hand from their face, a dark stain lingering. Ralsei gasped, looking for their health meter. A considerable chunk had been taken out of their HP, but it wasn’t fatal. Just enough to make his stomach churn.

“Sorry, Kris, I would heal you, but...“ He reached out to hold them. Their shoulders shook. “But what happened? I heard you scream, and—“

“...I’m okay,” they whispered. “They just got tired of talking.”

No other sentence made Ralsei feel so cold. “And— and they did...”

Kris shook their head, the wetness of their skin rubbing onto Ralsei’s tattered cloak. “I’m fine.”

“It’s...” his voice shook as he dug for some way to comfort them. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll find a way out of here.”

“I’m tired,” they answered, and the two fell silent— Kris still shaking and Ralsei unable to sleep.

-

Eventually, they stirred again. The two were still holding each other, slumped against the wall in the center of the cell. Ralsei had been unable to close his eyes for very long, set on edge every time Kris whimpered in their sleep. Light started to shine from the hallway again.

Ralsei kept his eyes trained on the door, waiting for someone to come back in. He was still hungry, but in the night he’d noticed the tray was empty. A taunt. It held no promise of any more food, or comfort. 

Nothing did, really.

_We’ll find a way out._

They had to. Ralsei was sure of it. 

But when Kris was dragged from his grasp again later on, his resolve flickered.

-

Before recently, Ralsei had never seen Kris scared. When he first met them forever ago, on their adventure, they had seemed so sure. He’d admired them (maybe more so than what was considered platonic) because of their confidence, their resolve. Kris was reserved, but kind.

Now, he could hardly imagine them happy.

Their screams had grown in frequency and intensity, with them getting dragged out every day for torture. When they did, Ralsei curled in the corner, covering his ears and crying. Each new agonizing wave of sound brought another pulse of dread.

And every time they were returned, he told them it would be okay.

New bruises were visible on their arms every morning, illuminated by the light. Their breathing was shallow, and if possible, they spoke less than before. As far as Ralsei knew, Kris only slept when he would hold them when they returned. 

Only when he told them it would be okay.

Every day, he believed it a little less. Each new scream, new bruise on their arms. Blood on their face. He doubted the statement more with each blank gaze Kris gave him. Each shudder when the door made the slightest creak.

Ralsei never wanted to ask what they were doing to Kris. They’d made some passing comment at some point about their Soul, but he’d shushed them and blinked back his tears. He never wanted to ask— it made him sick to think about. To see them like this. 

A servant had brought in a real tray of food this time— and while they were most likely starving, Kris made no move to eat. They didn’t even look at the tray, leaning their head against the wall. Ralsei choked down a sob and ate what he could.

When they were tossed back in that night, Ralsei didn’t say anything, making no move to hide his tears. He cried openly as Kris fell against him, too tired to do much. His sobs only echoed around the cold, unforgiving cell. 

Kris had looked up at him then, old bruises and blood on their face. Then they reached up to cup his cheek with a trembling hand.

“It’s going to be okay,” they rasped. Ralsei only cried harder.

-

It was hard to feel hope, down here. In this bleak, cold cell. There was little light to be seen, both physically and otherwise.

Ralsei had tried his best to remain positive, tried his best to reassure them. When he would count Kris’s bruises, he would tell himself they’ll be okay. _He’d_ be okay. They’ll make it out, someone will come for them. Et cetera. 

He stopped believing it. Even when he said it the first time, it was empty.

In his absence of words, Kris seemed to try to fill it. Their voice shook with unshed tears and they were _tired,_ but they started to talk.

They mostly lied, telling Ralsei they were fine. They fibbed so easily, saying it didn’t hurt, they were healing. HP back up, slept well. Not much.

Then it was things like “You’ll be okay.”

Why him? He wasn’t the one dying.

He was the one drowning in despair, not blood. They were the one who needed to be okay.

“It’ll be okay, Ralsei.”

He looked over at them now, chained up again. The two had been placed back in their shackles, Kris looking more crumpled than ever. They were peering over at them, crimson eyes soft under their hair. 

“We’ll get out of this,” they pushed. Ralsei swallowed, so many horrible emotions swirling in his gut. How he longed to cry, but he was cried out. 

“Kris, I’m—“ I’m not so sure. Though he didn’t say it, it was probably written on his face.

Kris shook their head. “We’ll be okay.”

A thunk sounded in the hallway. Light was starting to creep through the bars.

Ralsei looked upon Kris’s beaten form, the once strong Lightner reduced to shreds. A lump formed in his throat.

“I’m sorry, Kris,” he finally blurted, tears bubbling to the surface. “I can’t do it.”

_Do what?_ their face asked. Kris smiled.

“It’s okay— I’m here. I know you can do it,” they continued.

Someone knocked on the door. Ralsei shut his eyes as their voice began to shake.

“We’ll make it out of here.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is pretty messy because i did literally no editing, but i just had to get it out of my system. It was based off of a tumblr post I saw (i know, i’m original). :(( hope you... enjoyed & ty for readinggg


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